June 2011
Green Heat NewsAGH logo
Issue No. 23
In This Issue
From the Newsroom
Upcoming Conferences and Webinars

Quick Links

Current Wood Heat Incentive Programs 


Residential Bulk-Fed Pellet Boilers Rebate Program: 

New Hampshire

click here

Wood Stove Change-out Program 

Sublette County, WY 

 click here

Wood Stoves and Fireplaces Changeout Program 

Sacramento AQMD, CA  

 click here

Wood Stove Change-out Program  

West Springfield, MA 

update: Program temporarily suspended due to 'unprecedented response'  

 click here 

 

An Alliance for Green Heat Study of these and other incentive program is funded in part by the

Forest Service's Wood Education Resource Center:

WERC logo

Introducing...

 

Our newest advisory board member - Andrea Colnes. Andi is the Policy and Development Director for the Biomass Energy Resource Council, the leading non-profit group in the US promoting appropriately scaled community and institutional thermal biomass applications.

 


Quote of the Month

 "By the help of this saving invention, our wood may grow as fast as we consume it, and our posterity may warm themselves at a moderate rate, without being oblig'd to fetch their fuel [coal] over the Atlantick"

      -Benjamin Franklin,    regarding his invention,  the 'Franklin Stove', 1744 


Comics

 


Research Fellowship
The Alliance has an opening for a Fall Research Fellow. This Fellowship will provide an excellent opportunity to promote renewable energy and delve into policy research.  We are accepting applications on a rolling basis. Come join a small team of advocates who believe in the clean and efficient use of biomass for heating homes and businesses. For more information, click here
Office Equipment Needed

Have a printer, scanner or computer that is still relatively up to date and in good working order that you don't need? Donate it to the Alliance for Green Heat and get a tax deduction. Contact:

jordan@forgreenheat.org 

Join Our Mailing List

And stay up to date with all things wood heat. To sign up,

click here 

Dear friends,  

 

In 1744, Ben Franklin wrote of the need for greater efficiency in wood heating so that Americans would not be "oblig'd to fetch their Fuel over the Atlantick ... [from British] Pit-coal."    

 

In the mid 1700s, Americans were already studying the more efficient European stoves.  Ben Franklin noticed that Scandinavian nations had a "Publick Advantage" by using efficient stoves, and that the cost of wood had not risen there like it had in the US where it was being "consum'd ... in great Quantities by open fires." He was also aware that excessive smoke from these open fires was a health hazard.

 

More than 250 years later we are confronting the same issues with renewed urgency: energy independence, efficiency and particulates. USDA, EPA and DOE need to convene a summit on wood heat to bring some badly needed inter-agency coordination to this energy source that still holds tremendous promise.   Reinvigorating the national conversation Ben Franklin began would be a good start.    

 

The Team at Green Heat


Alliance for Green Heat Projects & Activities

 

Washington Wood Heat Symposium Set for Next Month 

The Alliance for Green Heat will host a stakeholder symposium on July 13th at the US Forest Service in Washington, DC. The purpose of the symposium is to bring together non-profits, industry, government, and forest and air quality experts to explore how America can maximize the renewable energy potential of wood and pellet heat, while minimizing it's drawbacks.

 

The symposium will also serve as the launching point for the AGH report on wood heat incentives entitled "Transforming Wood Heat in America: A Toolkit of Policy Options". For more information on this event or to request a copy of the report, please email jordan@forgreenheat.org

 

Prominent Sustainability Blog Puts Wood Heat in the Spotlight

Veteran journalist and sustainability writer Marc Gunther recently sat down with AGH president John Ackerly to discuss the role of wood heat in the United States. Gunther published an article on his blog profiling wood heat, calling it the 'renewable energy technology that gets no respect'. Click here to read the full article.

 

Since its publication, the article has been picked up by at least a dozen other blogs and newsletters and is percolating in the renewable energy and environmental communities. Click here to follow the conversation and see what other are saying.

 

Are We Ready for Large-Scale Deployment of Pellet Stoves?

The EPA is currently undertaking regulations for New Source Performance Standards for wood stoves and for the first time ever, pellet stoves. The Alliance for Green Heat believes that if we want to see widespread deployment of pellet stoves in the US, like they have in Europe, a stricter standard will be helpful. For More

 

Wood Heat Incentive Survey

The Alliance has developed a survey on wood heat incentives to document attitudes and opinions of various stakeholders, from homeowners, hearth retailers to government officials, etc. Please take 8 minutes to complete this important survey.  


 
Featured Opinion

Pellet Sacks and Product Stewardship       

Green heat is great--except where it generates waste in another area such as pellet bags. What is your industry doing in terms of producer responsibility when it comes to pellet bags? Clare Innes, Communications Coordinator from the The Chittenden Solid Waste District, urges pellet producers to lead the way in 'product stewardship'. For More


 
From the Newsroom

International

 

Why is the UK Backing Biomass Power?

As companies seek to take advantage of the government's generous renewables obligation certificate subsidies, plans to build new biomass power plants are surfacing all over the country. Such projects are generating a great deal of opposition, as well as active protests. For More

 

National

 

New Study Points Out Flaws in the Manomet Study

A study contradicting the findings of the well known and controversial 2010 Massachusetts biomass study points out inherent flaws in the authors' assumption that narrowed the scope of the report and led to flawed findings. For more 

 

Study: Slow Growth for Wood Derived Boifuels

Producing renewable diesel and ethanol from wood is a complicated technological process and is not expected to reach commercialization for more than a decade. On average, it was found that wood-based boifuels will not contribute significantly to the renewale fuel standard until at least 2022. For more

 

State

 

Commission Recommends More Funding for Fairbanks' Wood Stove Program

AK: A public commission recommended more incentives for people to trade in inefficient home heaters in Fairbanks. The incentives, rebates and tax breaks, will replace older heating devices. For More

 

No Funds for Energy Assistance this Summer

IL:The state's Low Income Heating Assistance program won't be getting any funding this summer for cooling. For More

 

First Wood Boiler Rules Will Affect Thousands 

IN: Indiana's first rules regulating the smoky emissions released by outdoor wood burning units took effect last month. For more

 

More Mainers Heat With Wood Than Thought

ME: A recent study of wood heating in Hancock County has lead its authors to believe that many more people in Maine heat with wood than census numbers suggest. For More

 

Pellets for Heating Should Be Encouraged

ME: In a letter to the editor, one local resident argues that "biomass is the forgotten alternative energy". "Wind and solar," he says, "get all the props." For More

 

State Sued Over Outdoor Wood Boiler Sales

NY: Environmental groups want a state Supreme Court justice to block the state environmental agency from allowing businesses three more months to sell outdoor wood boilers that don't meet new tougher pollution controls. For more

 

New York College Plans Biomass CHP Project

NY: University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse will install a $3 million biomass CHP system, which will assist in achieving their goal of carbon neutrality by 2015 and save the college $350,000-400,000 a year in heating costs. For more

 

Giant Silo will Store Wood Pellets in Chesapeake

VA: Enviva LP has erected a 157-foot-tall white dome in order to store tens of thousands of tons of wood pellets. The dome was strategically cited near a port so that the pellets can be exported to Europe. For More

 

Forum Incorporates Pros and Cons of CHP Project

WA: A forum about a proposed biomass boiler featured speakers, both for and against the project. For More

 

Upcoming Conferences and Webinars          
The European Path Towards Renewable Heating

June 15 12PM ET

The Biomass Thermal Energy Council is hosting a webinar to connect attendees with their European counterparts to learn from the successes and failures of 20+ years of renewable heating policy. For more

 

Office of Biomass Programs' Program Review

Crystal City, Virginia June 27-28

All programs in the US DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy are required to conduct a peer review of their funded projects. For More 

 

Pellet Fuels Institute Annual Conference

Ponte Verde, FL July 24-26

This year's conference will feature an optional educational component devoted entirely to the PFI Standards Program. Preliminary conference agenda is also availableFor more

  

Biomass 2011: The New Horizons of Biomass

July 26-27, 2011

The conference is hosted by the Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and will focus on topics surrounding the use of biomass as a replacement petroleum and bioenergy technologies. For More

 

Maryland Clean Energy Summit 2011 

Bethesda, MD August 25-27

Be part of the clean energy discussion at this annual event. 

For More 

 

Biomass Boiler Workshops

Sacramento, CA September 22-23

Jansen Boilers is sponsoring a free workshop which will consist of presentations about new technological developments and results to improve the operating performance, waste fuel burning capacity, efficiency, and fuel economy of biomass-fired boilers. For more

 

Northeast Biomass Conference and Trade Show

Pittsburgh, PA October 11-13

This conference is meant to be a dynamic regional offshoot of the International Biomass Conference and Expo. For More

 

 

 
Please Support Our Work







Thanks Too...
The Alliance for Green Heat is an independent non-profit organization working to promote cleaner and more efficient biomass heating. Please consider making a generous contribution. The Alliance is a tax exempt 501 (c)(3) organization.

Alliance for Green Heat is funded in part through a grant by the Wood Education and Resource Center, Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry, U.S. Forest Service. AGH is an equal opportunity provider.

You can make a secure donation online through paypal here:

www.forgreenheat.org/support/donate

A special thanks to those who have contributed $2,000 or more between June 2009 and February 2011
-- Wood Education Research Center (USDA Forest Service)
-- Dr. William & Francis Ackerly
-- American Biomass
-- Arbolito Foundation
-- Family Alliance Foundation
-- Osprey Foundation
-- Ramsay Merriam Fund
-- Takoma Foundation

Become a Green Heat Founding Member: Make your donation here  

 

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